Cha ca!!!!!!

Cha ca,...one of my favourite dishes during our travels in Vietnam a few months ago. 

It’s a famous dish from Hanoi and is a fish tumeric dish with dill.

On top of that tumeric is known as one of the healthiest spices in the world so you can’t go wrong with this!

                                                            Recipe courtesy of The Morning Glory Cookbook by Trinh DiêmVy

Ingredients (serves 4 people)

 -800 g firm white fish (e.g. halibut, snapper or mackerel), cut in 4 cm pieces

marinade

    -1 teaspoon sea salt

    -1 teaspoon sugar

    -1 tablespoon olive oil

    -¼ teaspoon fresh grounded black pepper

    -1 tablespoon ginger, finely grated

    -1 teaspoon fish sauce (Nuoc Mam) (can be found in most supermarkets)

    -1 small shallot, minced

    -1 tablespoon ground tumeric (~or 4 tablespoons fresh tumeric)

-3 tablespoons olive oil

-1 bunch of dill, chopped (without stems)

-2 tablespoons chives

-1 bunch of scallions/spring onion sliced in pieces

-handful of peanuts, chopped

-600 g rice vermicelli noodles

-2 tablespoons fish sauce*

Directions

1. Prepare the marinade: mix salt, sugar, olive oil, pepper, ginger, fish sauce, shallots and tumeric in a bowl. Rub fish with marinade and let sit for at least 30 minutes.
2. Place piece of fish on a grill or use a sauce pan to cook at medium high heat. Add the rest of the ingredients when the fish is almost ready and serve
3. Lay the noodles in a bowl, top with the fish and dill/chives/scallion mixture and spoon over the dipping sauce (mix olive oil and fish sauce) and serve with crushed peanuts on top.

*There are different varieties of fish sauce, some of them are very salty. To be on the safe side start with 1 tablespoon of fish sauce,...you can always ad more.

Looking for a different salad for your barbecue?

Try this zucchini noodle salad! A light alternative for pasta!

You only need a vegetable spiralizer and noodles are done in less than a minute.

...But what the heck is a spiralizer? 

It’s a super fun kitchen gadget that can transform your vegetables into noodles.

There are plenty of different spiralizers on the market but this one does the job for me: 

Gefu spiral slicer. I’ve ordered mine on Amazon.

Try this salad, a great combination between sweet and sour. 

Mango/Zucchini Salad

Ingredients

-2 zucchini's, cut in spirals

-1 red onion, finely chopped

-12 cherry tomatoes, sliced in quarters

-1 mango, sliced

-¼ red chili pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped or cayenne pepper

-handful of basil leaves, cut in chiffonade (~small slices) or basil pesto*

-4 el extra vergin olive oil (not needed if you use basil pesto)

-handful of pine nuts (roasted)

Preparations

1. Cut zucchini in spirals
2. Mix all ingredients
3. Cover and chill for at least an hour so all the flavours can mix in
4. Serve with roasted pine nuts

* I usually make my own basil pesto. In case you need the recipe

Basil Pesto

Ingredients

-2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

-100 g pine nuts, roasted

-1/2 lemon (juice and zest)

-~15 cl extra-virgin olive oil

-100 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Combine the basil, lemon juice/zest and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth.

Season with salt and pepper and add the cheese.

Tips & Tricks

-I make this usually in big batches and freeze it. Freeze in ice cube trays, and then store frozen pesto cubes in plastic freezer bags for up to 6 months

-If you want to make this a less outspoken flavor you can use half basil leaves and half baby spinach leaves

Explore the World,...Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls

We just came back from our trip to Vietnam ,…. So inspired by it.

To me this is one of the healthiest and most delicious cuisines in the world! !!

Can you see I get excited,… just thinking about it!

They use a wide variety of vegetables and herbs, use several ingredients in their raw version and for sure they know how to balance flavors.

You will see many more blog posts that are inspired by the Vietnamese cuisine,… let’s start with some basic dishes,… Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls.

These rolls are very versatile; you can let your imagination run wild with the filling.

Even my picky eater Sienna (8 years old and is really giving my a run for my money when it comes to food) asked whether I could make these for her lunchbox,…uhhh you want what???

Vietnamese Spring rolls

Ingredients (~makes 8 rolls)

-8 sheets of rice paper

-3 cups mixed herbs: basil, mint, and coriander

-200 g rice vermicelli noodles

-12 prawns, cooked and sliced in half

-handful-grated carrots

-handful-grated cucumbers (optional)

-handful of lettuce (optional)

-sweet and sour sauce

            -1 tablespoon lime juice

            -1 tablespoon honey

            -1 ½ teaspoon fish sauce

            -2 teaspoons water

            -1 teaspoon red chili and garlic (chopped very small or grated)

Directions

1. Prepare the sweet and sour sauce: add all ingredients for sauce together.
2. Blanch the vermicelli for 3 minutes (~let them sit in hot water for 3 minutes) and drain.
3. Place a sheet of rice paper on a flat surface, wipe over with a wet cloth. Or put them in  warm water for 30’ but this is a little bit harder,…
4. Place a handful of mixed herbs, vermicelli, grated carrots, grated cucumbers, lettuce at the edge of the paper closest to you, then add the shrimp.

5. Roll up your roll, first fold the sides of the wrapper over the filling and then roll the rest of the roll until it’s closed and snug.

Tips& Tricks

-If your roll is breaking or falling apart: try to put less filling or try a new rice paper (could be broken)

-To store them, wrap in plastic cling wrap and place in refrigerator for up to 1 day. If you don’t wrap them individually but still like to store in refrigerator: put some olive oil or cooking spray on the dish first and cover with aluminum foil.

Three things to make with pesto

Healthy eating often comes down to having healthy options available when you are hungry or craving something. Having your home-made pesto on hand gives you several healthy options.

...But once you make your own pesto though…it’s hard to go back to a store bought version,...

BASIL PESTO

Ingredients

-2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

-100 g pine nuts, roasted

-1/2 lemon (juice and zest)

-~15 cl extra-virgin olive oil

-100 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Combine the basil, lemon juice/zest and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth.

Season with salt and pepper and add the cheese.

Tips & Tricks

-I make this usually in big batches and freeze it. Freeze in ice cube trays, and then store frozen pesto cubes in plastic freezer bags for up to 6 months

-If you want to make this a less outspoken flavor you can use half basil leaves and half baby spinach leaves

1 PREPARATION - 3 LUNCH/DINNER IDEAS

ARUGULA SALAD WITH PESTO AND SMOKED SALMON

Ingredients (4 portions)

-handful of cherry tomatoes or 2 chopped tomatoes 

-1 can or fresh artichoke hearts, quartered

-2 cups baby arugula

-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

-2 tablespoons pesto sauce

-2 slices of smoked salmon, cut in pieces

Directions

1.Add tomatoes and artichoke hearts to a bowl with the pesto and red wine vinegar and let marinate for a few minutes

2. Serve marinated vegetables with arugula salad and smoked salmon

ZUCCHINI BASIL SOUP

Ingredients (4-6 portions)

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-1 onion, chopped

-1 tablespoon chopped garlic (I use microplane zest to do this fast)

-4 tablespoons of basil pesto

-1 kg zucchini’s cut in rounds

-1 liter of chicken or vegetable stock

-salt and pepper to taste

-Parmesan cheese (optional as a garnish)

Directions

1.Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Cook the onion, garlic and zucchini’s slowly for 10 minutes, or until the zucchini’s are lightly browned and softened.

2.Add stock and simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered. Remove from the heat and add basil

pesto and mix with an hand-held mixer.

Serve with salt and freshly ground black pepper and sprinkle over some Parmesan, to taste.

QUINOA SALAD WITH PESTO, CHERRY TOMATOES, PINE NUTS AND PROSCIUTTO

Ingredients (4-6 people)

-200 g uncooked quinoa

-6 tablespoons home-made pesto

-handful cherry tomatoes, cut into 2

-50 g pine nuts, roasted

-100 g prosciutto

-100 g rucola salad

Directions

1. Prepare the quinoa. Follow directions on packaging: usually 2 cup water to 1 cup of

quinoa.* Set aside to completely cool.

2. In a large bowl toss the cooled quinoa with pesto, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts  rucola

and prosciutto or other dried ham or bacon.

Season with salt and pepper and some lemon zest (optional)

3. You can make this a vegetarian salad and skip the prosciutto and add some extra

veggies like roasted peppers or steamed green asparagus.

                 

*I usually take 1 ½ cup of water to 1 cup of quinoa to avoid the quinoa being mushy.